People magazine

Photos
Left: Joe Mullins, a forensic imaging specialist at NCMEC created this age-enhanced photo in 2006, years after the kidnapping of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard. (Joe Mullins/NCMEC)

Right: 10/14/2009 Caption: This image provided on October 14, 2009 by People Magazine shows the cover of the October 26, 2009 issue which will be on newstands in the US on October 16, 2009. The cover shows a photo of recently freed kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard. (HO/AFP/Getty Images)

Mullins studied the photos carefully — measuring the folds on the child’s ears, searching for visible scars and moles, deciding what to do with the hair, tracing the shape of her eyes, nose, mouth and smile — then transformed the small radiant blond girl in pigtails into a grown woman.

At 7:46 a.m. Wednesday morning, John Rabun, vice president of the NCMEC, sent Mullins an e-mail with a link to a newly published photo of that girl — Jaycee Lee Dugard, now 29.

If you thought all those gag-inducing ads for “Kath & Kim” that NBC ran during the Olympics were awful, wait until you check out the actual show.

Better yet, don’t bother.

Starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, “Kath & Kim” follows the outrageous misadventures of a dim, dysfunctional mother-daughter duo. It is based on a comedy that originated in Australia and it might be just cause to immediately cease trade relations with that country.

We learn this morning from the San Jose Mercury’s Karen D’ Souza that the show’s Season 5 champ and leader of the Soul Patrol, whose record sales have been languishing, has joined the national tour of “Grease,” which is coming to San Francisco next year. He’ll play the Frankie Avalon role of Teen Angel.

But will fans still be hopelessly devoted to him?

Meanwhile, People magazine tells us that the end of the “American Idol” summer tour has left David Archuleta all sad, yet excited to see what the future brings. “It was one of the greatest times of my life,” he said.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/09/15/american-idoler-taylor-hicks-slides-into-grease/

In other “Idol” news, Billboard reports that David Cook will have his first album out on Nov. 18. Cook also has a new networking website just up today. To check it out, click here.